No trip back to MD with the boys would be complete without a stop at Lake Needwood. We took the boys to the lake all the time when we lived in MD and couldn't wait to bring them back for another visit after an 8 year hiatus.

The boys didn't remember the park from their puppy days, but they were still happy to be at such a gorgeous spot.

They spent a lot of time walking off trail in the grass. Luna was fascinated by the grass in MD. It is so much thinner and softer than the grass we have in FL. Luna was also curious why all the tree in MD were shedding so bad. There were leaved everywhere. In FL, Luna is used to the trees keeping their leaves.

As many of you loyal blog readers know, we hail from Montgomery County, Maryland and for the first few years of the boys’ lives, one of the greatest pleasures we had was taking them to Lake Needwood. Well, recently the northeast was hit with a phenomenal amount of rain and the natural earthen dam at Lake Needwood sprung some leaks and virtually flooded the entire park area. Water flooded the pavilions, raised throughout the hiking trails and covered playgrounds. Now, they are having to drain the lake. Though, we agree with the news reports that “safety is more important than recreation,” it really is tough for us to see photos of our old “stomping grounds” in such a sad state. Many of our most cherished memories are of Lake Needwood. You can view some of the old blog posts.

Moving to Florida was a somewhat difficult decision and friends and family would ask us if we were worried about hurricanes and such. Fortunately, our first year here, we have been very lucky in that the weather has been awesome. On the other hand, it has been difficult seeing that our old home town is struggling with severe rains. So, we just relish the memories and continue to make more happy times.

To help beat some of the winter blues we have been having lately we decided to go to the Lake to walk the trails and get some fresh air. As you can see Henry was very excited to be getting out for some much needed exercise.

Much of the lake was frozen, but I was pleasantly surprised at the condition of the trails. I thought they were going to be extremely muddy, but all things considered they were in great shape.

The boys had a great time trotting down the trail and chasing each other through the leaves and up and down the hills off of the main trail.

They ran so much that on the way back even Benny, who is usually so hard to tire out, decided to take a break and relax on the bench.

It was a great day and for the boys most great days end with them getting muddy and dirty. So next up for today is baths and brushing!

There was finally a break in the clouds last Sunday, so we decided to go to the Lake to enjoy the good weather. The boys had a great time chasing each other and running in piles of leaves. They met some other pups that were out on the trails as well and while the water at the lake was quite chilly they managed to get their paws wet while climbing on some of the rocks at the lake’s edge.